How did I not know this exists in real life?
See below the fold for more, including a video….
And in more “future creep” developments, Wikipedia reports:
On October 25th of 2005 in Lahti Finland, the BirdMan Rocket Team successfully experimented with small jet engines attached to the feet of BirdMan Visa Parviainen. The jets provided approximately 16 kgf of thrust each and ran on kerosene (JetA-1) fuel. Visa was able to achieve approximately 30 seconds of horizontal flight with no noticeable loss of altitude. Once the fuel ran out, Visa continued to fly in normal Birdman flight until deployment altitude. Deployment and landing were uneventful. The flight was considered a success as it proved that level human flight was not only possible but sustainable with the use of jet engines and a Birdman suit.
I want my hovercar!
Heh. That is frickin’ AWESOME.
Skydivers use similar stuff-the photographers especially tend to have winged suits for more control–but the ones I used to work with wore WAY smaller wings.
That. Is. SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. Cool.
Sigh. I’m jealous.
They’re like flying squirrels, ‘cept instead of the mammal evolving, it’s the mammal’s tools that evolve. Wow.
Sweet! Teleporters can be but weeks away!
Here’s a video of the second thing you mention, the birdsuit with rocket boots. This video is amazing, it starts off looking like some backyard stunt and then you’re like… whoa…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8HMdioj6kng